Luceo Non Uro
by Lore55
Summary: She ran from a monster with an angel's face, into the arms of a demon with a foxes grace. And, into the body of one Sakura Haruno.
1. Chapter 1

**I really shouldn't be starting anything new. And yet, here I am.**

* * *

It was not planned. It wasn't quite accidental, either. It was an act of desperation, an act of fear, and an act of vengeance in the face of the man who wanted nothing more than for her stop existing.

"Oh, Sabella," his voice was soft, sweet, and it called to her heart, a siren so a sailor.

The girl pushed her back against the wall, still as stone, not daring to breath. He whispered over the ground, a mask of golden innocence hiding the cruelty underneath. She couldn't hide for long. Not like this. He would see her as soon as he turned the corner. She didn't even dare try and look for him. The gold light that he glowed with, unearthly, would give him away if he got closer. It had gotten blindingly bright since he'd eaten her family.

"Sabella, Sabella, silly Sabella, you can't hide," he called. She could hear him move through the hall that lead from the living room. The living room where her sister's life was fading away. Her parents were already gone to Micheal's sadistic appetite. Gone, gone, all gone-

Sabelle forced those thoughts down. Later. She could think about that later. Now she had to survive.

She counted inside her head. One, two, three, four-

She bolted. She flew across the hardwood, not even touching the floor. Through the dining room, the floor slick with the blood of Pancake, to the back of the house and the cement deck outside. She passed her bedroom, the Naruto opening blared out of the open door. Hiding any sound she might have made.

The door was in sight. Her heart lifted and she drew a breath into hollow lungs. Freedom was ahead of her, beaconing. Her fingers brushed metal.

Something slammed into her back.

She smashed through the door, tumbling onto the rock outside. She tried to lift herself off of the ground, tried to scramble to her feet, but his weight was on her back. A hand circled her throat.

"Did you really think it would be that easy?" he hissed in her ear. " _Silly_ Sabella."

She lashed out, but her arm was caught by his gold fist. The light hurt her eyes to look at. Black spots blurred across his golden face. She could feel her strength leaving her. And as her power drained, his grew. Sabella choked on desperation. She thrashed, pulling against him with everything she had.

There was a sudden, horrible pop, and for an instant all she knew was running. Running, faster, faster, but she didn't feel the running. She didn't feel the ache of legs or the cold of lungs, or the sharp tingling of fear down her spine.

And all of a sudden, she wasn't running anymore. She wasn't running because she had smacked headlong into someone else.

Sun that wasn't there before shone in her eyes, glaring down from behind light hair. It took a second for the shadow of a face to fall over her. Blue eyes were wide, set above cheeks with three marks on each.

He was shouting at her, but her ears were being overrun by sound. His voice, the birds, the wind, the grass. Feet on dirt, people talking, dogs barking. Bugs chirping, grass rubbing against cats legs and trees bending to the air. Even the sun was loud.

Sabella turned in his arms, and promptly puked on his shoes.

* * *

It wasn't her idea of a good time, but it was better than where she had come from.

"Are you okay?" the poor, panicking boy awkwardly patted her back. She spat on the ground, trying not to look at the mess she'd made of the ground.

"Fine," she grunted. "Sorry for running into you. And throwing up on your shoes," she added, finally making eye contact. Red dusted across his face and he scratched one of the three lines that marked his cheeks.

"I-it's okay, Sakura," he smiled at her shyly.

 _Sakura._

"Uh. What?" she stared at him blankly. He had just said Sakura right? "What did you just call me?"

"Sakura," he repeated, brows furrowing, "Are you feeling okay?"

"No," she said honestly. Her eyes started to sting. This wasn't possible. Surely. Surely she hadn't run from the man who cannibalized her family and into a world of child soldiers.

" _Did you really think it would be that easy?" his golden mask, one that wore no expression, grew black spots across it as his hand tightened around her throat. "Silly -"_

"Can you, take me home?" she asked quietly, putting her hand over her eyes to try and stop the tears that sprung up. No, he couldn't take her home, but anywhere away from the sun would do. She wanted to sink into darkness and cry.

"Yes!" he agreed quickly. He waved his hands, like he didn't know what to do with them. With nothing else to do, she took one. Somehow, she mustered a weak smile.

His face got redder and he wasn't making any eye contact. But still he walked, and she moved beside him. She was vaguely aware that they were being stared at, but all she could focus on was the warm hand in her own, and the pink hair that brushed her cheeks.

The door wasn't even locked when they got there. She was glad that the boy knew where the house was, because sure as shit did not. Nothing in it was familiar. It didn't smell like home, it didn't have her mother's Persimmon tree in the corner or the glass bottle lining the wall like a hoarder witch lived there. Pancake didn't run up and try to lick her face the second she walked in the threshold.

There was a note on the table, something about the couple who lived there being out of town.

She didn't care. She couldn't care.

"Thanks," she said to the boy, and shut the door in his worried face.

It wasn't hard to tell which room was hers. It was small, a bed, a desk, and a stack of drawers like a square filing cabinet. The curtains and the covers were pink. There was a basket thing and a mirror.

She stared blankly in the reflection of a girl she didn't know. A girl she did know, but one that wasn't her.

This was bad.

This was beyond bad.

This was probably the worst day of her life.

'Sakura' laid down in the bed and cried.


	2. Chapter 2

**Luceo Non Uro**

 **AmuletSugar1: Thank you! Here's some more!**

 **Guest from October 3rd: Sorry about that ^^' its supposed to be confusing, and honestly that's not going to clear up for quite a while. I'm glad you like my stories, thank you so much!**

* * *

It was three days before she moved an inch, despite the concerned calls through the door of a couple that was not her parents. Human bodies required food and it hurt not to eat, at is happens. Her skin felt wrong, like sandpaper rubbing against her soul. It itched in a way that nothing could stop.

She waited until she heard both of the Haruno's leave the house.

Her legs shook and her stomach ached.

But, she wasn't going to die of starvation. She hadn't gotten away from Micheal to die like this. Her parents would be ashamed of her.

The thing to know about Sabella, or Sakura, now, was that she could cook absolutely nothing. She would burn rice, she would roast the outside of a chicken but leave the inside raw. There was nothing that she could do properly. And so she lived on a diet of smoothies and leftovers, and delivery.

Now, she was left alone in a kitchen with no left overs, she had no money, and so she was left with the blender and the vegetables in the fridge. So, sweet potatos, carrots, and a single turnip. There was meat, too, but she couldn't safely liquify that. So she transferred it to the freezer for someone who could, and was blessed to find strawberries, and some ice cream. How was there so little?

She checked the cabinets and found a bit more she could eat. Cereal, that was good, and bananas. A few cans of soup.

And peanut butter.

Which, she promptly ate the entire jar of.

Sabella blended the entire sweet potato, threw some cinnamon and milk in with it, and poured the whole thing into a thermos she found before wandering outside.

It was dusk, the sun was setting into a periwinkle sky.

Sabella took a walk to get used to her new legs.

It didn't really take her anywhere. She walked around the neighborhood, trying to keep track of where she was. She wandered to a park, looked at the children and the parents. Her family hadn't gone to parks. Her parents were weird people, who took them to craters in the earth and told them tales of the stars.

Sabella would listen to everything they said. She wanted to know of their origins, what brought them to earth, and where they found their place among the humans.

Her sister, who shone brighter than anyone, never cared much for stories of black space and cold voids. She wanted to know about stars, the sun, and the life of those of earth.

She missed her.

There was a terrible ache in her chest, a loss that tore at her very being. It hurt, a screaming in her heart that made her want to claw through this new skin and rip this foreign beat right out of her ribs.

Instead of doing that, she turned right and passed the school.

The lights were out, and there wasn't anyone in the yard out front. She could see a few tree stumps set up in front of worn dirt paths. Scorch marks touched down on a circle draw in the grass.

Who let these children throw knives? Who let their tiny, innocent being learn to fight? What kind of place was this that no one blinked twice as boys and girls joined wars and fought on battlefields?

What kind of a world would breed a desperation that would make that necessary in the first place?

Was it possible for her to change her profession?

If it was, did she want to?

Sabella didn't want to kill anyone, that was true, but the future was dark and in a war it was the innocent who paid the price for the games. It was those that could not protect themselves who died easiest. And as she was now, she could protect no one.

Her skin was thin, but she could feel the power, the potential thrumming under it like a fire waiting to burn through her flesh. The combination of her own soul stuffed into a body that already had living energy was a weird one, and that was the only explanation she could come up with for why she felt the way she did.

She turned away from the school and started the walk back to the house, her head filled with so many thoughts she couldn't keep track of them all. Thoughts of home, thoughts of the future, thoughts of the itch beneath her skin.

Her head spun round and round until she was dizzy by the time she was crawling back into bed.

Hours later, the door opened and a woman who was not her mother came in to check on her. She pretended to sleep through it.

* * *

"You finally decided to show up for class, huh?"

Sabella looked up from the seat with her name on it to find a blond girl standing in front of her, a hand on her hip. Even young, Ino was pretty. Her hair was just getting long, and she had it in a ponytail now, but the purple clothes were missing. Instead Ino had thrown a white tank top over a fuchsia t shirt.

"I like your bracelets," was all 'Sakura' said, gesturing to the orange and red bangles.

"I- huh?" Ino stared at her like she'd lost her mind. Which was a fair assumption, given the hostility demonstrated in the show.

"Your bracelets, they look nice," she repeated. Idly, she twirled a long strand of pink around her fingers. She didn't really want to cut it all off, but she wasn't sure what to do with it otherwise.

"Oh. Thank you?" Ino was so confused that she just walked away, a furrow in her brow. Sabella smiled a little. She was cute.

The door opened, and demon walked inside. Sakura waved at him.

"Hey, Naruto," she called. His head snapped towards her. "Sit with me today?"

The whole room was staring, but all Sakura bothered with was the smile that spread across his face. She'd never seen a human being so happy before. He practically ran over to her side.

Sabella had thrown up on boys shoes before, during particularly out of hand parties, but none of them had been so enthusiastic to see her again.

"Sakura!" he tossed himself into the chair beside her. "Are you feeling better today?"

"A little," she admitted, smiling at him. "I don't think I'll mess up your shoes again," she joked, poking his side.

He twitched away from it and laughed awkwardly.

"Did you happen to do the homework?" she asked, and watched his face fall. He looked to the side awkwardly, scratching his cheek.

"U-hum…"

"I figured," she waved her hand, "Don't worry about it. I'll just ask Shino for it. He seems like someone who does his homework. You really should to," she said, eyeing the boy. Not that Sabella had ever done homework in her life. Fuck that. She had better things to do. Like playing with lights and fireworks and stars.

The door opened again, this time allowing Iruka to walk inside. Sabella hoped there would be no practical lessons today, for she had yet to get the hang of, or even try, using chakra. With how jacked up it would be now that Sabella's energy was in the system, she was a little scared to try.

She pulled out a paper and started writing. Not what was on the board, truthfully, but her own thoughts. Questions that had never been answered, things that bothered her about the show.

Why hadn't Sakura ever learned any decent Genjutsu, despite two different masters saying she had a natural talent for it? Why hadn't Naruto learned anything about the fox earlier? Why hadn't Danzo made his move earlier?

Who the hell was Kakashi's mother!

That one, she underlined for emphasis. Then became aware that Naruto was watching her intently.

"Uh, yeah?" she looked at him out of the corner of her eye, more than a little confused.

"Can help me learn to make a clone?" he asked, out of absolutely no where.

Sabella stared at him blankly.

"I'm better at the theory of jutsu than jutsu itself," she warned. His fell fell and she sat up, scrambling to back track. "But I'll try!"

His head snapped straight up and he stared at her in such a way she wanted to tear apart whoever had made him doubt so heavily he would be granted the help he asked for.

"Really?"

"Yeah! And if we can't do it together, we'll find someone else who can!" she promised, grinning at him brightly. "Hinata maybe."

"Not Sasuke," Naruto made a face at the thought. Sabella shook her head.

"I don't know if he'd help us or not. It would be nice if he would, but i don't want to waste your time trying."

"Sakura, Naruto, is there something you'd like to share with the class," Iruka asked, breaking them up. Sabella looked up at him and smiled.

"Naruto just had a question about," she glanced at the board, "Chakra conversion from Genjutsu to ninjutsu, and asked me instead of interrupting the class."

She added to her list, 'How can I read and write Japanese?' .

Iruka stared at them. It was clear he didn't believe them, but he didn't question good girl Sakura.

* * *

During their gym period, or whatever they called the outside practice where they all tried to stab pieces of wood and fight eachother, Sabella found herself partnered with some purple haired girl for a spar.

She sneared at 'Sakura' and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Great, I'm fighting her? She won't do anything unless Sasuke is watching!" she whined, stamping a foot and looking up at Iruka petulantly. The man sighed, deeply, and this girl, amy?, was probably right.

Sabella wouldn't know.

"Just, begin," Iruka waved his hand at them.

Sabella snapped her fist out, using her shoulder, and hit the other girl right in the chin. She crumpled the ground like a wet piece of paper. There was dead silence.

Sabella twirled a piece of hair around her finger.

"Huh. It worked."

She'd seen a few too many boxing movies, or rather she had watched _Girlfight_ on loop for about two months straight, and had just tried to emulate what she'd seen there. Apparently Sakura's body had a natural talent, or at least she had built up basic combat moves. Or something. Sabella had only been a few physical fights in her life. Shed never won any of them.

She bounced lightly on the balls of her feet.

"Sakura!" Iruka scrambled to see to the now unconscious girl. "What was that?"

"I don't know. I saw someone else do it," she crossed her arms over her chest. It had felt pretty good. " I didn't' think it would actually work on a person."

"Who did you see do it?" Iruka stared at her from where the purple haired girl was starting to stir.

"I dunno. Some guy in green? He had a bowl cut."

Iruka made a face. "That sounds right…"

Ami whined and sat up, a hand on her jaw. "Wha appen'?" she mumbled. Blood slid out of her lips.

Sabella's eyes widened.

"Ho-oly shit. Should we be wearing mouth guards?" it occurred to her that she could have knocked a tooth out. What the actual fuck.

"Sakura, why don't you sit out for the rest of the day," he suggested, eying her side long. "Kasumi, take Ami to the nurse, would you?"

Sabella couldn't argue with that. So she went over to one of the shorter wooden stumps, one that wasn't being used for target practice, and sat on that to watch everyone else.

The rest of the day, children gave her weary looks.


	3. Chapter 3

**Lil: Thanks!**

 **rickrossed: She could have done more if Kakashi bother to train her too! Girl got gypped.**

 **Sazalei: Yes!**

 **libraryrockerr: Proooobably, but honestly I have no beta so please excuse my (probably many) errors.  
**

 **Wicked Neko: Yep! Ami never saw it coming ^^**

 **Winterlover6: ^^**

 **Guest from October 20th: Oh good! I'm really glad its not as confusing as I thought it would be, I have a lot of plot and a real explanation for why she took Sakura's body than just 'chance?'.**

 **littleditto: a safe motto**

 **orlha: I'm a bad person, I think I've finished one story in my whole career? maybe two? and they're 11!**

 **calcu22: Thanks!**

 **ArmCannos34: Thanks!**

* * *

School was weirdly similar and weirdly different to Lafayette High School. For instance, they both had Blocks. They both had a lunch period. They both had desks that had no storage spaces inside of them.

Conversely, Lafayette taught french, calculus, and english humanities. Konoha Academy taught combat, jutsu, and pretty basic arithmetic.

The blocks Sabella had once had were irrelevant. Now all that mattered was that on even numbered days she had were dedicated to academic studies. Reading, writing, mathematics and history. A very basic science. And at least one hour outside, usually doing laps or light exercises.

On odd numbered they did outdoor things. Things like learning to pitch tents, read maps, and identify plants. Not to mention the actual physical side of their ninja-ing. The weapons work, the fighting, and all that.

It was on wednesday that they did things involving chakra. Mostly it was just practice. 'Feel for your chakra', channel it, practice your hand seals. Sabella could already feel her chakra just fine, so that was a plus. She could reach for it too.

Up until that day, a week after going 'back' to school, she hadn't tried to use any chakra at all. Until the day Iruka stood in front of the class, with all the little children in front of him, and cleared his throat.

"Today we'll practice the transformation jutsu. Everyone pair off!"

Sabella, naturally, went to Naruto. A lot of girls clustered around Sasuke, and Sabella felt a little left out of the infighting over who got to work with the little Uchiha. Part of Sabella wanted to swoop in and save him from the torture. Mostly, she was amused. The most popular boy and he hated all of the attention, something that Naruto would have killed for.

"You know the hand signs?" she asked, once they'd spaced themselves away from the others.

"Yeah!" Naruto looked excited at the thought. Sakura smiled at him and reached up to pat his head. He was cute.

"Show me!" she ordered, and he was quick to comply.

His hands moved steadily, from one hand sign to the next. At the last one he shouted, and Sabella found herself looking at… herself. Sort of. She was looking at Sakura, who she was still trying to get used to seeing when she looked into a mirror.

Sabella laughed in delight and grabbed his hands.

"You look perfect!" she exclaimed, eager to praise the cute little blond. Naruto beamed at her like the sun was stuck behind his teeth.

He was such a sweet boy.

"Now you," he encouraged. Sabella took her hands back and brought them in front of her chest. Her brow furrowed with concentration. She had felt her energy this whole time, but she hadn't drawn on any of it yet.

She concentrated, going through the motions and summoning the chakra to her skin.

There was a loud pop, but no smoke. Something fell in front of her eyes, fluttering to the ground. For some reason she was freezing.

Naruto stared at her in shock.

"How did you do that?!" he bounced closer to her.

Sabella stared at him. "Do what?" she asked. The girl looked down at herself, and saw a lot of red. She brought her arms up in front of her, separating her hands. The skin from her palms fell to the ground. The skin had left her forearms entirely, leaving it pulsing red and bloody.

She swallowed thickly. Then, she screamed bloody murder.

* * *

Kakashi didn't usually spend much time in the hospital. In fact he had something of a chronic aversion to it. Kakashi would not enter a hospital unless under pain of death or unconscious.

This time, it had been the latter, and now that he was conscious he was planning on sneaking out as quickly as he could. Until he happened to be lowering himself past a window the featured an odd sight. A little girl with pink hair was being treated by a doctor. That wasn't so weird.

What was weird was the fact that, from elbow down, she appeared to have been flayed.

The girl's eyes were locked on the medic working on her hands, who was equally intent on the task. Neither one of them noticed Kakashi watching the medic regrow her skin.

He wondered, idly, why it happened. And why Naruto Uzumaki was hovering over her shoulder, looking panicked.

Huh. Kakashi weighed his curiosity against being forced to stay in the hospital another day and the conclusion came easy.

He dropped down to the ground wandered off.

* * *

The skin around her hands was still tender a few days later, when she finally went back to school. At this rate she would be so far behind she would never catch up. If she hadn't already done most of this work years ago already.

Sabella may not have taken school seriously, but she knew enough to pass the classes of an eleven year old with flying colors. She was easily bored, not stupid.

She hadn't played around with chakra since her unfortunate incident, something that the doctors still couldn't explain. Sabella had her own theories. She was pretty sure that her soul was still settling into these new bones, and when she tried to use the chakra, which was spiritual and physical and mental energy all together, it had created some sort of corrosive reaction that destroyed her skin.

Or, maybe with an old soul in a young body when she tried to form the energy she made too much and it blew the skin right off, like too much water stuffed into a balloon, it ripped at the seams and send most of the skin flying.

She wasn't totally sure, but those sounded plausible. She didn't know how she was going to fix this.

"Sakura!" Naruto ran over to the desk she had picked out and skidded in next to her, stopping just short of touching the girl.

Sabella smiled at him sweetly.

"Hi, Naruto. What's up?"

The boy pulled a backpack off his back, which he usually didn't have, and ripped it open. From within he pulled out a bright orange notebook and slammed it on the desk. Sakura jumped in her seat, glancing between the book and the boy.

"Uh, Naruto?" she prompted, a little lost.

"I got your notes this time," he said, shoving the book at her. "My hand writings not so good and I didn't really get all of it but most of it is in there and Iruka-sensei said that if you have questions you can go in after class and-"

"Naruto," she cut him off gently. His mouth snapped shut and blue eyes were wide when they locked onto her. Sabella smiled gently.

"Thank you. That was very thoughtful of you to do," she praised quietly. Naruto's cheeks turned pink and he looked down, bashful. It was about the cutest thing Sabella had ever seen. She reached out and cupped his face between both of her hands, ignoring the twinge the motion caused, and leaned in close.

"Sa-u-wa?" he mumbled, brows furrowing.

"You are. So cute," she said softly.

Naruto's face heated up under her hands and his eyes got all wide. He sputtered between her hands.

Sabella let go and faced the front of the classroom as Iruka walked in, a smile on her face.

 _I got a pocketful of sunshine._

The seat on her other side was taken a few minutes later by a not-even-sheepish-looking Kiba, who plopped down with a puppy on his head. Sabella eyed him, her focus locked on the little ball of fluff. Such a cute boy. She had cute boys on both sides. A grin spread across her face. Her arms may still hurt, but this wasn't so bad.

She listened, vaguely, to Iruka telling them some weird formula. Mostly she was looking at Akamaru.

Her hand started inching towards him. Slowly. Slowly. Lifting up, finger tips inches from soft, fluffy, white fur…

"What are you doing?"

She paused, looking at Kiba, who had noticed her at some point and was staring at her. Sabella didn't move.

"The- petting?" She stumbled over her words.

Akamaru leaned further on Kiba's head to lick her fingers. Sabella's face lit up.

"Yes! Puppy!" she reached up to scratch behind his ears, petting the softness.

Kiba snorted at her. "You're weird," he accused.

"Don't insult Sakura!" Naruto lunged around her shoulder at Kiba, trying to swipe at his face.

"Hey!" he yelped and smacked back. Sakura promptly plucked Akamaru off his head and hopped onto the desk behind her, sending papers flying. She crouched, setting the puppy in her lap so she could pet him while he barked at Naruto and Kiba. The fight dissolved into fists in a matter of seconds.

Iruka came storming over and yanked the pair apart by the backs of their shirts, holding both boys up. Sakura finally freed Akamaru to go bark at Iruka's feet while he yelled at the two.

Naruto and Kiba were sent to sit out in the hall, while Sakura sat in her seat until they were released to lunch.

She would have stayed with Naruto for lunch, but they were held in for a detention. So she went outside to watch the upperclassmen run laps while she ate the lunch Sakura's mother had prepared for her. She watched the children run, the constant pace hypnotic.

She was halfway done when the bench clanged next to her with a boys shoes. Sabella looked over, surprised to see a boy with long hair and a white chinese looking shirt had come to a stop beside her.

"Um. Hi?" she offered.

"Hello! Are you Sakura Haruno?" he asked, leaning close to her. His bangs moved in the wind, revealing truly massive eyebrows.

"Hah, I guess I am," she set her apple back into her lunch box. Bento box. Whatever. "Why?"

"Is it true that you cannot use any chakra?"

Wow, he was blunt. Sabella shook her head.

"No," she said, and his face fell. "I mean, I can. But I'll skin myself."

His brows furrowed. Lee opened his mouth, then closed it, and for a moment Sabella thought that he might not say anything at all. Then, he asked, "Will you quit trying to become a shinobi?"

Sabella paused. That, sure would be a good excuse for her to give up. And if she did, if she did just fade into obscurity, she doubted anything would happen. She would be a civilian, go to a trade school, or something, and be nowhere near all the destruction. Minus Pein's attack, but everyone survived that so it was a moot point.

"I don't know."


	4. Chapter 4

**Reviews!**

 **ArmCannos34: Thank you!**

 **Biclops: Thanks! I really do my best to put original content in my stories, and the flaying bit is something that just seemed natural considering what Sabella actually is and how chakra works!**

 **libraryrockerr: I love Lee! All these cuties around Sabella ^^ and yeah, that'll hurt**

 **calcu22: Prooooobably, maybe traumatized a few. Maybe.**

 **Madgridal-in-Training: Yes he is!**

 **Pizzas Cat: Thanks!**

 **Anon from November 25th: probably. too bad I'm too lazy to go back and change it!**

* * *

The seven days that followed involved Sakura sitting outside at lunch with Naruto, while Lee ran laps and they cheered him on. She still wasn't sure that she was going to keep trying to become a ninja, but she could certainly encourage those who wanted to.

There was, at the back of her mind, always the traitorous thought of how easy it would be to be a regular person. To be a retail worker, or a cook, or any number of other things. She was eleven, the sky was the limit, and in this world it was clear that they didn't have anything even remotely like child labor laws. So she didn't have to wait another five years to get a job.

Or, to move away from the poor couple who had lost their daughter. Maybe some day they would get her back, but for right then she couldn't do anything.

And she couldn't do anything with chakra. She had tried, once, but cut it short when it started to feel like her skin was going to blow up again. She didn't want to repeat that little episode.

Having no skin _hurt_.

It did make her wonder though. She had seen it, when the skin had come off. Seen the flash of pink deep beneath the red, red, red of her blood of muscles. Pink. Pink like her mother, like her sister. Their father had never had any Spark to him. He had been mundane. All too human.

Sabella flipped the knife in her hand, looking down at the dull edges. It was for practice, and they probably had to throw it harder than a regular one. Good practice, she supposed, but her aim absolutely sucked. She couldn't hit the broadside of a barn.

Which was disappointing. She liked the idea of being a markswoman. But, it was what it was.

She was caught up in her thoughts when someone screamed her not-name.

"Sakura!"

She looked up from the practice kunai, one that she had swiped from practice earlier, to see Ino running towards where she had sat on the ground. She lay the knife down beside her.

"Ino, what's up?" she asked, craning her neck up to look at the little girl. Her hair wasn't quite as long as it was at the start of the original series.

"What's up with you?" the blonde demanded, propping her hands on her hips.

Sabella paused. She had been acting pretty funny lately, from the other girl's perspective. Nothing like who she had been. She didn't care for Sasuke, or school work, or anything like that.

Instead of having a real answer, she shrugged.

"I dunno. None of my old hobbies seem interesting anymore."

"And your chakra control? Where did that go? What happened to your arms?!" Ino was practically yelling now. Sabella paused. Could it be that the blonde was worried about her? If she recalled correctly Ino and Sakura had been friends when they were little, and Ino had tried to save her during the disastrous chunin exams.

Huh.

Sabelle grinned and reached up to pinch the other girl's cheek, pull it away to show her teeth/

"Aw, were you worried about me?" she teased.

Ino slapped her hand away, cheeks flushed darkly.

"I was not! Why would I care about you, forehead girl?!" she shrieked. Sabella laughed and stood up to swing an arm around Ino's shoulder.

"Hey, hey, lets forget the whole Sasuke thing, huh? You're welcome to him!"

Ino stared at her like she had lost her mind. To be fair, Sabella would have thought she had if she didn't know her heritage so well. Actually, the whispering in the back of her mind still put doubts in her thoughts.

"I-what?" was all Ino could seem to say.

Sabella grinned at her again.

"I''m bored of this fight. I want to do something else, focus on something else. So you're welcome to Sasuke, and I'll just be your friend again, yeah?" she reasoned like it was the most natural thing in the world. Flippantly.

"There's something wrong with you," Ino shoved her away. "Are you sick or something?"

Sabella shrugged. "I don't think so. I was, but I'm getting better. Is that a no?" she pouted up at Ino.

The little girl pulled away, frowning at Sabella.

"It's- I don't know!" she yelled. She yelled a lot. But, she was eleven. Sabella was seven years older than her, sort of. Not that it mattered anymore, she was friggin eleven as far as everyone else was concerned.

"It's cool," Sabella shrugged without care. If Ino didn't want to be her friend that was fine. She would make other friends. Sabella was friendly and sociable, and people came easy to her. She wasn't worried about Ino.

Ino was staring at her back as she walked away.

* * *

Sabella stared in the mirror at Sakura's face. She could see it already that she was going to be beautiful when she grew up. Sabella had been too, though she hadn't had pink hair. Well, once she had played with dyes, but that was awhile ago.

Sabella played with Sakura's long hair, still thinking about what to do with it. The obvious solution was cut it short. Past that there was tying it back or yanking it into pins and braids, but Sabella was, at the core of her being, a creature of vanity and freedom. Those did not suit her.

The color, that absolutely was going to stay. She loved it. It bright and light and her hair was so soft.

It would make it harder to blend in to the forest, but all she needed was a hood. Black, maybe? Yeah, and green too. And pink.

Sabella's musings were cut off when there was a sudden, frantic knocking on her window. Her window. Why her window?

The girl left the vanity to peak out, finding Naruto clinging to the ledge, his face poking up above it. Sabella opened the window at once.

"Hi," she waved, "What'cha dooooin?"

"Are you gonna quit the Academy?!" he blurted, grabbing her shoulders. Sabella jerked from the sudden, hard hold on her body. Naruto's blue eyes were wide and his brows were furrowed. It took her a minute to work out that he was scared. Oh.

"Who told you that?" she took his hands and eased them off of her shoulders to hold between them. On a second thought she pulled him over to the bed to sit down. He held onto her hands like a life line. She didn't know why he was so upset.

"Someone said that 'cause you can't use chakra or any jutsu that means that you'll never graduate and be a ninja and if you'll never graduate than you wouldn't stay and then you definitely wouldn't be a ninjaandyoucan'tleavewhenwejustbecamefriendspleas!"

Sabella blinked at him once, twice, thrice, trying to work out exactly what he had just vomited into her ears.

"Um. I don't know if I'm going to be a ninja or not. I don't think that you have to be able to use chakra to be one, or else we wouldn't have martial arts classes so often. But I also, I don't know that I would be that good. I'm not super strong, and if I can't use chakra that cuts out a lot too."

"But you're smart and nice and pretty and- and- and you're my friend and you can't leave!"

Sabella looped her arm around his neck to pull him into a hug. The boy stiffened before he grabbed her and squeezed the life right out of her ribs. She rubbed his back slowly.

"Hey now, it's okay," she soothed, her voice going all quiet. "Whatever I decide to do, that won't make me stop being your friend, doll. I'm- I'm afraid," she admitted softly, "If I can't use chakra I can't make clones and move rocks or make dragons or anything cool like that. And if I can't do that then, even if I am a ninja, I could be an easy target."

Her eyes closed, her lower lip quivered.

"I could die."

Naruto hugged her tighter before he pulled back to look at her face. His cheeks were all red and his eyes were getting puffy. Sabella hadn't thought that she meant so much to him.

"No you won't," he said it with unwavering conviction. "You'll be strong! And if you can't beat them up, you can trick them! Or, or something. And if you can't do it, then I'll protect you! I swear!"

"You- Naruto," she shook her head. "You can't go around making promises like that. It's sweet that you want to try to protect me but you can't always be there. Things happen."

"I will!" he insisted, leaning closer to her. "I'll protect you no matter what, I already promised! What kind of Hokage would I be if I can't even protect my friends?!"

Sabella looked at him before she sighed softly. Naruto's mind was made up, there was no changing it now. If worse came to worse, she could always pull another Houdini, she guessed. But that might bring Michael.

She swallowed down the memories of the man who had murdered her family.

"A promise, then," she squared her shoulders and grabbed Naruto's hand before she locked their pinkies together. "I won't give up one becoming a kunoichi, and you'll protect me if I can't protect myself."

Naruto grinned so bright it was blinding.

"Deal!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Just so everyone knows, Sabella was born of my love of Gwen Tennyson and Rex Salazar.**

 **Reviews!**

 **EternalDarkness28: Thanks you! These children are adorable and a joy to write. I wouldn't say it resolves itself soon...**

 **libraryrockerr: She get's more love this chapter, don't worry!**

 **Madrigal-in-training: That would be the cutest thing ever, I swear to god and she so would. Girl has like, zero fucks to give. _For now_ she's going to be a taijutsu lady but later on, who knows! **

**ManawaSasa: Cutest demon ever. Totally worth making a deal with.**

 **AmrCannos34: She'll figure something out, I'm sure.**

 **calcu22: She'll use something. Her brain, maybe. Or uh. Something else.**

 **Lirynn: I know it's a little dark straight off, but it'll brighten up as we go. Then turn v _ery painful indeed_.**

 **orlha: I can't tell you that yet!**

 **AmuletSugar1: It's so fine, thank you for reviewing at all! She'll be the Pink Beast of Konoha, men tremble at her feet. And thank you, for this story especially, for Sabella, the friendships are very important to me.**

 **AxZi: Dude I have such a back story for her it's not even funny. We won't get to that for... a while.**

 **Smiling Seshat: I am 100% sure you're write, I'm also 100% sure I'll never get around to fixing it. I don't have a beta so I write fic like I wrote essays. All at once, no editing, no take backs, just throw that fucker in the void and hope for the best... I did not do well in school.**

* * *

Ninja graduations were strange things. Sabella had expected some sort of a large ceremony, maybe everyone dressed in antiquated robes or armor or something. She had thought there would at least be a large crowd to see the years graduates.

Instead, outside the Academy was a modest conglomeration of parents and friends, huddled around their prefered child when they walked out of the school for the last time, each one holding onto a shiny new headband. Sabella's eyes skipped over Neji and Tenten, Mitsuhiro and Ichiki, until she found a long black braid and massive eyebrows.

"Lee!" She screamed across the front schoolyard, waving her hand frantically above her head. Naruto was right by her side, holding a big sign with Lee's name painted messily in green, complete with a truly unholy number of question marks.

The boy saw them and his whole face split into a grin. He went running at them and Sabella picked him up and spun him around. Sakura was way stronger than she thought she would be. It was fucking awesome.

"You did it!" she cheered, letting go of him long enough to pass the hug onto Naruto. Lee laughed between the, grinning.

"Yes! I'll prove it now, to everybody!"

"Kick ass Lee! Kick ass!" she swung an arm around Lee's shoulder, and Naruto's. "Let's celebrate!"

Lee nodded, smiling so bright his teeth gleamed. "Yes! My mother is working today, but she won't mind if we go to my house."

"Whoo! Party at Lee's house!" Sabella cheered. Naruto slipped one hand around her middle while Lee did the same on her other side. Together the three walked in a weird, awkward stumble towards the little cottage at the edge of the village. It reminded Sabella of the nights she had stumbled home with her girls, laughing and holding onto each other all the way back to her parents house.

Lee's house was small. Just one story and a bedroom for him and his mother, who worked herself to the bone to support the pair of them. Sakura had never asked about his father, but the total lack of photographs and silly stories were very indicative of where he was.

Still, it held the three of them in the living room without any issues, the children small enough to sit comfortably on the floor.

Sakura pulled out her box first, covered in pink wrapping paper. Pink was a wonderful color. Naruto produced a smaller box, messily covered in brown paper. His cheeks were a little pink when he gave it to Lee.

The boy looked at them, confused.

"You got me gifts?"

"Well yeah. It's your graduation, dude," Sabella tossed him a carefree smile. Lee looked between them, startled, and Sakura had the rather depressing realization that neither Naruto nor Lee had had decent friends before. No wonder they were so bad as social interactions.

Sakura handed him the package. "Open it," she encouraged.

Lee almost dropped it before he got a handle and pulled the paper off, carefully and meticulously. He pulled apart the box and lifted from within a set of training weights. They were way lighter than the ones he would have later on, but she figured he should start small.

Lee lifted one of the funny shaped bracelets out, looking at it curiously.

"They're supposed to help make you stronger. You wear it on your wrists or ankles," she explained. Lee turned wide eyes to her and a smile spread across his face.

"Thank you!" he threw his arms around her. Sabella laughed and hugged him back.

"Naruto's now," she encouraged, pushing him away after a minute.

Lee took the other gift obediently and opened it. From inside he pulled out a dark red strip of cloth. He looked to Naruto curiously.

"It's for your headband," he said quickly. It was also cheap and within Naruto's limited budget.

A soft smile spread across Lee's face.

"Thank you both so much!" He dragged the pair into a hug. Sakura smiled and hugged him back, pulling Naruto into it. This wasn't so bad.

* * *

"Summer days, drifting away, but oo-oh those summer nights," Sakura sang, swinging her hand with the one connected to it. The blonde girl she had dragged out with her that evening rolled her eyes with a great deal of fondness.

"Where do you even learn these songs?" she asked, giving her a light shove.

"Movies mostly," she swung Ino out in front of her. The girl twirled gracefully and fell back in Sakura's arms dramatically. Sabella snickered and brought her back to her feet.

"We should hurry, before they're all gone," Ino took the lead then, pulling her along. Sakura stumbled briefly before she followed Ino down the road. They left the shopping district, entering the quieter part of the village. To their right a tall white wall stretched high above their small heads. The sign in front of the gate caught her eye.

"Hey, doesn't Hinata live here?" Sabella asked, tugging Ino into a stop.

The other girl stopped and looked up at the 'Hyuuga' sign. "Huh. Yeah, I think so."

"D'you think we should invite her to come with?" Sabella put forth. Ino cocked her head in thought.

"You know what, we should!"

"Home girl doesn't get out enough," Sakura said sagely. She promptly knocked on the gate, her small fist deceptively strong. There was a beat before the big door swung open and a shinobi in uniform appeared, his pale eyes giving away his family name.

"Yes?" he asked. Sabella was certain he had heard what they were discussing.

"Hi! We're in Hinata's class as school and we want to bring her to a summer break party. Will you please tell her we're here?" Sabella gave him her very best puppy dog eyes. He was utterly unphased.

"Does she know about this?" he asked.

Ino huffed. "We only just decided to do it, so no."

The guard hesitated another minute before he shut the door and disappeared. Sabella's brows furrowed.

"Um. What does that mean?"

Ino shrugged. "Let's give it a minute."

They did. They even gave it two minutes. By the time the third minute rolled around Ino was getting antsy and looking down the way they still had to go. They were about to leave when the door opened again, revealing Hinata, a little girl who was probably her sister, and the guard that had left them hanging before.

"Hinata!" Sakura grinned brightly at her. "We're going to a party, d'you want in?"

"A party?" Hinata looked between her and Ino, surprised. Ino propped her hands on her hips.

"Yeah. Well, more like a hang out sesh, that until we got here only included me an Ino," Sakura gestured to her blonde partner-in-crime. "Unless you come, and then three's not a crowd it's a party," she said all of this with absolute certainty.

Hinata fiddled with her hands, looking to the ground. Ino glanced at Sabella, who shrugged. She didn't know what she wanted her to do. The invitation had been extended. Green eyes passed over Hinata's shoulder to the little girl that stood behind her.

She was cute, with rosy cheeks and curious silver eyes. They were lighter than Hinata's, who had a vague tint of lavender. Her long brown hair hung partially in her face. Sabella had the abrupt urge to hug her.

"I promised I would play with my sister tonight…"

Sabella's eyes widened. Oh.

"She can come with," Ino offered. Hinata still hesitated, but now looked at the little girl. So this was before they dueled for inheritance?

"Can we?" Hanabi grabbed her sisters hand and looked up at her hopefully. "Please?"

Hinata looked between the three of them before she gave in. "I-I guess it's okay. If we're back before midnight."

"Oh come on. What's going to happen?" Sabella smiled at her, carefree. She was very certain that the Hyuuga would have someone following them the entire time, as it was.

"Then, let's go," Hinata took a breath and straightened up to look at Sakura. The girl grinned and grabbed Hinata's hand, swinging her other arm around Ino's shoulder.

"Let's go!" she cheered. Her backpack clinked against her shoulders when the four of them went on their way. Hinata took Hanabi's other hand, bringing the smallest of their trio with them. It wasn't exactly Sabella's prerogative to hang out with a six year old, but this one was so cute.

The duo, that was now a quartet, wandered down the street until they finally reached their destination. It was a little park, the kind for adults where they didn't have any play place. Just a bunch of grass and flowers and trees. A small creek ran through it, under a red painted bridge. In the dusk it was hard to see, with the light from very few street lamps falling into the grass.

Sakura stopped by one of the benches so she could drop her backpack and open it. She produced three jars, each one with holes poked into the lids, and two little butterfly nets.

"What are we doing?" Hanabi asked, accepting the jar Sabella handed her.

Sabella winked at the girl and pointed to the creek. She had come here for weeks in advance to plan it. And now, it all came to fruition.

At first, there was only a small flicker. Then another, and another, until fireflies flashed in and out of existence all over the place. Twinkling in the twilight.

Hanabi gasped softly.

Sabella opened her jar and ventured out, leading the way. Ino was at her back, with one of the small nets, ready to catch the bugs.

"We have to be gentle," she warned the Hyuuga girls. "We just want to catch them. We don't want to hurt them."

Ino swung the net, sweeping one light out of the air and depositing it gently into the jar. Sabella had put little wet paper towels in each one, so they wouldn't get thirsty.

Hinata offered Hanabi the net, and the little girl ran off , trying to reach the lights before they went out. Sabella laughed softly and ran after one of the little bugs. Their lights flickered and vanished, taunting the girls that ran after them.

Sakura managed to hold onto one long enough to slip it into her jar, and Ino gave her another. Hanabi only caught one, but Hinata, who had cheated and activated her eyes, had seven.

Sabella finally called the other three to her at the bench again and pulled out a flower patterned sheet. They managed a makeshift fort with the bench, some rocks, and a long stick.

Sabella sat shoulder to shoulder with Ino, pushed in close in the small space. The fireflies glowed softly in the jars. Sabella lost track of what they talked about. School, their families, their classmates. Ino elbowed Hinata rather conspicuously when they got onto the topic of Naruto.

"He's the one everyone hates," Hanabi recalled. Sabella made a face.

"He's a sweet kid," she defended her friend. "People are just…. Complicated. Naruto has a chip on his shoulder, and the rest of the village is filled with people who hate him. Some don't even know why."

"Maybe it's his fate," Hanabi put forth.

Sabella snorted. "There's no such thing. The future is determined by us and our actions. We, the children, are the only thing that'll decide what it becomes."

Hanabi looked down at the glass jar, a funny expression on her face. Thoughtful. Good, Sabella wanted her to think.

Ino sighed and pushed the sheet up, opening the fort.

"We should let these little guys go and get home before it gets too dark." The other three mumbled their agreements and pushed out of the tent.

Sabella, Ino and Hinata pulled the lids off, letting the insects go flying, tiny lights that sought out the comfort of the night and the cool grass and the rolling water.

"They're like stars," Hinata whispered.

Sabella's smile turned sad. There was only one star on the earth tonight.


	6. Chapter 6

October took her by surprise.

Even though the leaves were falling off of barren branches Sabella was still wrapping her head around the fact that this was still the northern hemisphere. Even Japan didn't always register to her as existing on the same side of the equator as where she had come from. Some american-centric thinking was hard to shake off, no matter that she had been there for almost a year now.

It was _October_ , a time for monsters and mayhem and stupid cartoon specials.

Except it wasn't, because Konoha didn't have a halloween, which was utter bull. There were no jack o'lanterns, there was no kids running around in spider man costumes three weeks too early, no massive bags of candy on the walls.

It was a dark time. Not just because the days were getting shorter, but because everyone seems to have fallen into a melancholy. Folks wore black, pictures of dead folks popped up on walls and in windows. It was… unpleasant.

Sabella practically glued herself to Naruto's side.

With her arm in his, hip to hip, Sabella took him back to her house.

"You should stay here on your birthday," she told him once she had sat him down at the kitchen table. With him in a chair she went about searching for something to feed the boy. He was way too little. She was gonna have to fight a grocery store owner one of these days. Too bad she didn't know any scary genjutsu…

"I, don't think that's a good idea," he said slowly. He wasn't looking at her. Sabella's shoulders drew tight together.

"Why not?" she played at naivety. Prayed for his safety. "It's your birthday. You're supposed to spend those with friends. We all went to the part for Lee's birthday."

"People don't like that day," he tried to shrug it off. "Beside's, we hang out all the time. You can treat me to ramen the day after!" he laughed and smiled at her.

Sabella set aside her hunt to turn to Naruto. The kitchen was small enough it only took her two steps to cross over and grab his hands in her, holding them in between them. His cheeks turned pink and he looked at her, startled. He should have been used to her being all touchy feely by now.

"Naruto. Tell me the truth. Has anyone ever attacked you, or tried to hurt you on your birthday?" She held his eyes. For once she let herself sound a solemn as she felt.

Naruto shook his head. "No one's ever hurt me."

"Has anyone ever tried?"

He looked down. Sabella's heart broke. She leaned her forehead on his shoulder and let go of his hands so she could hug him to her.

"Stay here this year," she said softly. He nodded against her before he finally hugged back. He was shaking. Sabella wanted to smack every godforsaken person in this world. Instead she squeezed her precious friend tight to her.

 _Nothing gonna hurt you, darling. Not while I'm around. Demon's will charm you with a smile, for a while. But in time…_

She pulled back at last, she could feed him. She popped some leftovers in the microwave and put them in front of him once they were warm. Sabella sat across the table, stealing bites from his plate every now again. After a few minutes he noticed her staring at him.

"What?" he drew back, looking nervous.

Sabella smiled at him. "Nothing. I just think, that I love you Naruto."

* * *

Inoichi had become a familiar sight to Sabella over the last few months. She was much more comfortable in Ino's house than in her, with the parents who loved her far too much. She had seen him every few days since she had arrived.

She had never seen him in a school room before. She had certainly never seen his normally warm blue eyes so dark and far away.

"Babe," she poked Ino's arm, "What's your dad doing here?"

Ino frowned at the front of the room, where Inoichi stood solemnly next to a rather uncomfortable looking Iruka. The teacher wasn't making eye contact with anyone of them, student of parents alike. Something was up.

"I don't know," Ino shrugged. Couldn't she feel the tension in the air? Sabella felt the hair on her arms stand on end. Her instincts were telling her that something was about to occur. Something she wouldn't like.

Iruka stood up and cleared his throat, quieting the people around them. Naruto was nowhere to be seen. Good, Sabella didn't want him around for whatever this was.

"Today," Iruka began, "We'll be learning about upholding under torture. Here as a guest speaker is Yamanaka Inoichi. Please, give him your attention and respect."

Under the table, Sabella reached for Ino's hand while the girls father began the lecture. He detailed, in more information than Sabella had ever wanted in her life, the process of gathering information. He told them how to cause pain, how to extract the deepest secrets of their enemies. He told them how to take oneself away from the situation.

Sabella had never had anyone tell her that she should dissociate before. It was surreal.

All around her, children were growing pale. She would have expected scoffs, dismissals, childhood arrogance. Instead, there was only a grim, sickening silence.

Ino's fingers gripped her hand so tightly her bones cracked under the skin. She let out a breath, squeezed her hand back weakly, and filed the information away for later.

It was weird to think that, if she were ever in a situation where someone was digging her nails out and asking for village secrets, she could _literally_ leave her body behind. Even weirder would be for the people interrogating her. Would they see her soul leave her body? Or just watch the light leave her eyes when she inexplicably died mid questioning.

Sabella mentally shook herself to end that line of thought. What a depressing day.

Then the slide show started. Burns, cuts. Flaying.

It was _underwhelming_. Sabella couldn't tell if Inoichi was leaving the kids gloves on because they were a bunch of kids sitting around her, or if years of marathoning gory tv had really desensitized her that much.

 _Is this what Mom meant when she told me Criminal Minds would mess with my head?_

She had seen worse episodes of TWD than what Inoichi was putting up in front of them.

The sudden, horrible realization that she would never know who killed Negan hit her like a brick.

The lecture didn't last very long. Only an hour or so. Sabella was left with an aching hand and much less impact than she thought she would have. Her main concern wasn't the fear of this happening to her, or having to do that to someone else. It wasn't even that the man who'd pretended to take her nose last week had done everything he had described.

Her biggest concern was the fact that it was getting ready to rain outside and she didn't want to walk all the way home.

"Well," she said to Ino, "I think I'm almost messed up enough for this job."

Ino promptly pushed her out of her chair, the tension broken by a near hysterical laugh. She was awarded a toothy grin from Sakura, who grabbed her hand with the one that didn't hurt and pulled her to the front of the room.

Iruka stood with Inoichi, watching kids file out the door. They all thanked their guest speaker, as they were supposed to, but most of them were still green around the gills. No one smiled at the blond man.

No one except for Sabella, who grabbed his hand in her smaller one and bared her teeth in a challenge to fear itself.

"You'll walk me home right?" she said cheerfully.

Inoichi did a much better job as hiding his surprise than Iruka did. He drew back for just long enough for Sabella, who had been watching for it, to see before he took her hand gently in his own and nodded.

"Yes. We can get an umbrella from our house first."

He looked to Iruka, who was watching Sakura with an intensity that made her skin itch. Maybe she should have acted like a traumatized tween after all? But then, that might hurt Inoichi. And he was kind to her.

She gripped his hand tighter, making herself a link between him and Ino, and dragged the both of them out of the school. Ino stumbled a couple of steps before she regained her balance and fell in beside Sakura. Her little face was all scrunched up. Sabella wanted to pinch it and tell her she looked cute, but she was fresh out of hands.

Too bad she couldn't just grow new ones. That would be cool. The Nico Robin of Konoha.

"Huh," she looked up at the sky when the first few drops of rain hit her face. "I wish I could eat a magic fruit and turn into a flower person."

Inoichi smothered a laugh. Ino stared at her blankly.

"When did you get so weird?" Ino demanded at last. Sabella shrugged, smiling amiably.

"Who's to say? Maybe I've always been this way and you were too busy trying to pull my hair out in front of Sasuke to notice," she shoved Ino playfully. Ino responded by hip checking her right into Inoichi's leg. Sabella let her laughter ring into the rain.

Ino only lived around the corner from the school. They got to her house right as the sky opened up and let out it's first sheet of rain. The drops smashed into the ground, slapping dirt darker and sending people screaming into cover. Sabella hugged Ino briefly before she pulled back. Inoichi had already grabbed an umbrella and was waiting for her by the door.

She jogged over and grabbed his hand, pulling him out into the rain. He held the umbrella so neither of them was in the downpour, though her shoes still got wet. She needed some that didn't have open toes.

Too bad she hated how combat boots looked. Maybe some of the thigh high ones? Or, flats with thick tights? No, pretty but not functional.

She wanted Sketchers, in all honesty, but those didn't exist here. She would have killed a man for a pair of GOwalk 4's.

Inoichi cleared his throat at last. Sabella looked up at him. He stared straight ahead.

"What did you think of today's lesson?"

Oh. He was still worried about that? Sabella hummed while she put her thoughts into words.

"I think… it made me sad," she said. "It made me sad that we live in a world where you have to do that to people. You're a good person. I wish one day we could make it so you don't have hurt anyone again. So Ino doesn't ever have to."

"Oh."

They walked in silence until they reached the Haruno household. Sabella finally let go of his hand.

Inoichi got down on one knee in front of her so he could pull the little girl into a hug. She was surprised, for a minute, before she hugged him back tight.

"I'm glad," he said, "That Ino had such a kind friend."

Sabella squeezed him gently, smiling. "I'm glad I get to be her friend. Thank you for bringing me back."

Inoichi let her go and with one last smile he vanished into the rain.

* * *

Sabella stared at the boy in front of her, lips pursed.

Towa, a boy a year or so older than she was, looked utterly sure of himself.

"You want to date me," she said slowly. Sakura Haruno was only eleven. Much too young to go out with anyone. Sabella Hesper was going on twenty. Much to old to date a pre-teen. "We've spoken like, twice. Why?"

"Because I've seen you talk to that kid, Naruto. And you're not afraid to get into fights like the rest of the girls and you don't dress stupid. You aren't like other girls!" he said quickly.

 _Oh. My god._ That was a thing in this world to?

Sabella narrowed her eyes at him.

"What's wrong with other girls?" she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. For that matter, what the hell made him think she wasn't like them? Yeah, she didn't pull her punches during fighting lessons, and she knew almost all the answers to their lessons, but she was very much girly! She had pink hair for christs sake!

"Well- well they're lame! They just talk about boys and they're so dramatic! I don't want to date any of _them_ ," he made a face. Sabella rolled her eyes so far she could see her brain.

"You are so…. Okay!" she clapped her hands together. She would not yell at a child! She wouldn't! It wasn't his fault sexism existed. He had to learn about it. And, who better to teach him than her?

"Okay, you'll go out with me?" his face lit up.

"Nope!" Sabella waved her hand flippantly. " 'Okay', I'll tell you a secret!" Sabella leaned, prompting Towa to do the same. "What you just said, is sexist."

"What? No it's not! I'm complimenting you, are you stupid?" his whole face turned red. Sabella's smile only grew.

"Yep, it is. You're insulting every girl except for me, just because they as girls have traits you don't like. By saying I'm different from them, and better than them, you're pitting me against every other girl there is, and turning our very existence into a competition that I did not agree to be a part of. So, sexist."

"I'm trying to be nice!"

"Mmmm, well you're not doing very good at it. Listen. If you want to compliment a girl, or get her to like you, you can't just insult the girls you don't like to put her on a higher pedestal. Take a look at things she likes, things she's good at. If she's happy when she masters a technique tell her she did well at it even if it came easy to you. Compliment her on things she's passionate about. Things like that. Don't just tell her other girls are stupid."

She pulled back, arms crossed over her chest. "And, on that same note, I like to dress up. I love it. And I'm seriously the most dramatic person on the face of the planet. So… bye bye," she waved at him and bounced away, to where Ino and Hinata had been watching the whole thing.

She held out her hands and each of her friends took one, falling in on either side of her.

"That was intense. I thought he was going to fight you," Ino looked at Towa, who was still bright red, over their shoulders. Sabella had a brief fear that she might have done that wrong. She hoped calling him on sexism wouldn't result in her being murdered. That would suck.

Sabella squared her shoulders. No. She was a fighter, she would be fine.

"He didn't know he was being rude. He can't be a better person if someone doesn't tell him," she reasoned.

"That's true… I never thought of some of the stuff you said. But you know, he wasn't totally wrong. You aren't like other girls," Ino told her.

Sabella's footsteps faltered. Ino couldn't have figured out the truth about her, right? She couldn't know that she wasn't really Sakura. She couldn't know that she wasn't really a-

"No one else has a forehead as big as yours!"

"Pig!" Sabella screeched. She shoved Ino over, knocking her right into Hinata, who yelped in surprise and pushed her back. They dissolved into a wrestling match that was half insults half hysterical giggling.

When Ino bit her hand, Sabella had the stray thought that maybe things would be okay.

 _Maybe, things aren't so bad. Maybe they're even…. Good._


	7. Chapter 7

**I was watching Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow and had the most abrupt, burning desire to have a ninja that used chakra to levitate a skateboard. My immediate thought was Sabella. Then I remember that** _ **she can't use chakra**_ **and I was so frickin mad.**

* * *

 _The great violet dragon surged towards her in the darkness. Power wrapped around it like a cloak of fire that ate away at everything in its path. The great serpant opened its mouth and released a blast of energy that decimated all in its path._

 _Sabella stood before it, her vision blurry with fear and tears._

" _Stop!" she shouted. "You have to stop this now! I know you're hurt, I know they're wronged you but you have to stop, please!"_

 _At the base of its tail a man laughed hysterically, his heart bared for all the world to see._

What do you know of my pain, little girl?

 _A voice from the heavens beat down on her head. Her friends to side, she couldn't see their faces were they even her friends? They fell to their knees, hands over their ears._

 _Energy crackled under her skin, burning through until she was shining through the cracks of her being._

" _I know because-"_

 _The sky went dark and she choked on her own words. Her own truth._

" _I know because we are the same!"_

Sabella woke without fanfare. She had never sat bolt upright, had never screamed from her terrors. She just opened her eyes and sat up.

It took her a few moments to get her sparrows heart to stop beating so fanatically. Only then did she rise, dress herself and brush her hair and teeth. She emerged from Sakura's bedroom with the dream still echoing in her brain.

Sakura's mother fed her rice and smiled kindly.

"How did you sleep, Sakura?" it was an innocent question but she asked it at the precise wrong time.

"Fine," she lied, smiling convincingly before she left without another word. Sakura...

Sabella had been told, when she was very young, that she had been given her name intentionally. When her parents had first come to find their new home they had been taken in by a priest who, despite america's well earned reputation, had treated them with kindness and helped them to understand the strange land they were in.

She was named for his faith while her sister, Estella, was named for the home neither girl ever knew.

Now she was called for something even more obvious. 'God is my Oath', was interesting for a person who didn't care for church's at all.

Sakura, the people here called her, and for the most part it was fine. Typically she just thought of it as a nickname. That was easier than the truth. For what was in a name?

Some days, though, it hurt.

Some days 'Sakura' was nothing more than a reminder that she was false in all she did, a lie that no one but her knew they were telling. It hurt, when they called her by the name that wasn't hers. It was a dull ache under her breast bone that she wished desperately wasn't there.

These days, she wandered listlessly about the village, looking at things that were familiar and alien to her eyes. She loved people. Typically she sucked up energy around her like a goddamn sponge and bathed in the glow of humanity and life. But even she tired of them sometimes.

" _I know because we are the same!"_

She had taken to standing in front of the small memorial stone in the forests, memorizing their names to fill the void of her own. Sometimes she said them outloud, a prayer, a summons, he didn't know. Something.

That was where she first saw Kakashi.

She could only see one eye, but even that was enough to catch a glimpse of his soul. Cracked and filled with so much pain.

She hesitated at the tree line. Kakashi knew she was there, she knew he did, but this felt too much like intruding for her. She only came because of her own name. He went for the names of those he knew and loved.

Sabella took a step back, minding the grass under her open toed shoes.

"You don't have to leave," Kakashi said. His voice was a low, pleasant sound that Sabella had the abrupt urge to listen to a hundred more times.

Sabella cast him a speculative glance. Even if he said that… Kakashi was a heart broken man.

"You sure?" she asked carefully. Dipped his chin, just once, and that was that.

Sabelle crept closer until she was standing at his side. She clasped her hands in front of her stomach, eyes fixed on the stone. They zeroed in immediately on the names she knew Kakashi would be looking at.

They stayed that way for a long time, until Sabella finally closed her eyes and tilted her head back to look at the stars. Engraved in the constellations, she found her family's names. Tarek, Danika, Estella.

" _I know because we are the same!"_

Who had that been towards? What dragon was she the same as?

"Have a pleasant evening," she dipped herself to Kakashi before she left. She felt a little lighter then, as if sharing grief with someone eased it.

Perhaps it did. It wasn't like she'd had anyone else around who even knew she was in pain here.

"Mmm, you too," he didn't look at her, hadn't the whole time. Still when she walked away she felt his eyes heavy on her back.

* * *

With his back pressed tight to the tree, heart hammering in his head Lee tried to slow his breathing and ignore the way a piece of the underbrush was poking insistently at his calf. The sun was long down and only now, in the cool september air, was the moon beginning to rise above their heads.

His, and the other souls that had thrown themselves in the trees after him, after he had run all of them chanting with a priest precision.

Every three beats they howled 'Rock!' into the air, as if it would summon him from his sanctuary and make their jobs easier. But Lee would not be moved by the shout. He had his back pushed so hard against the old tree even through his clothes he could feel the indentation digging into his shoulder blades.

When the hour reached 'midnight' he closed his eyes to the dancing night shadows and recalled exactly what had lead him to being there.

 _Lee had thought, after he graduated and started training with such a master in taijutsu, that he would have to go very easy on Sakura the next time they spared._

 _He probably should have known better._

 _While it was clear that he had most skill and power in his punches, Sakura was and always had been a vicious opponent. That didn't change in the month it had been since he had seen her, off on his first C Rank mission. Quite the opposite, Lee realized when he blocked a hard kick aimed at his face that Sakura hadn't slacked on her training any more than he had._

 _Not to mention she was a tenacious, competitive girl who would bite him if it meant getting her out of a hold. He had the scars to prove it._

 _They pulled apart, Lee leaping back while Sakura stood where they had been. She was sweating, her long pink hair pulled up into a side tail. Her knuckles were scraped and a bruise that Lee felt bad for causing was blooming on her cheek._

 _Sakura turned her eyes on him, blazing green filled with a light that made his chest swell with joy._

" _Are you giving up?" she challenged, a smile threatening to overtake her face._

 _Lee shook his head and bounced on his heels. He'd taken much less damage than her, but she was still smiling like the sun never set inside her heart. She was… she was beautiful._

" _Never!" Lee shouted at the top of his lungs and threw himself at the girl. Beautiful she may be but Lee would never do her the disrespect of letting their fight go to a limbo because he didn't think she could take his hits._

 _So they went at it, a flurry of kicks and punches. More often than not they connected to Sakura while Lee avoided nearly all of hers._

 _Then, she did something incredible._

 _He punched her in the stomach, into an opening she should have been able to block and she doubled over over his fist. For just an instant guilt, fear, and triumph warred in stomach before his hand was caught in both of hers. She twisted, shoving her shoulder down onto his elbow while one foot knocked his right leg sideways._

 _He had time enough to realize that he was going down before she had twisted in a way that shouldn't have been possible and caught his head between her legs. He went tumbling down, Sakura on top of his back. She pushed his face in the dirt, a knee on each ear and her other fingers tapping the nape of his neck._

" _Give?" she pushed the gap between vertebrates. If it had been a real battle, she probably could have had a knife between them and had him dead already._

" _Yes," he agreed. Sakura got off of his back and went around to his front, offering him her hand. Lee took it and stood before he bowed deeply. There was a beat of her surprise before Sakura did the same._

" _Thank you for a good fight," he straightened up to award her with a massive grin. Sakura broke into a laugh that rang like bells._

" _You're welcome. Hey, hey, I bet I can beat you to Ichiraku!"_

 _They were supposed to be meeting with Naruto and a couple of friends Sakura had made after he had graduated and left the pair of his friends back at the Academy. Lee had never been around when they were all meeting up before this._

" _I won't lose!" fire burned in his eyes. Sakura slapped his shoulder and smiled wide before she took off at a dead run into the village proper. Lee was hot on her heels. He would beat her with his weights on, and if he didn't he would run two hundred laps around the village!_

 _With that thought in mind he overtook her with his long strides, eating up the earth beneath them._

 _Sakura squawked in indignation and tried to catch up, sprinting as fast as her legs would carry her. It was not fast enough, and the pair of them burst through the the curtains into the ramen stand._

 _Naruto was already seated, a massive bowl of ramen in front of him. Sitting beside him were three girls. One of them Lee had seen before, Ino Yamanaka, and the other two he knew from the days when the team went to pick up or drop off Neji. Hinata and Hanabi Hyuuga looked at him when he came tumbling in, out of breath. Sakura smashed into his back and bounced off into a chair with a grace that he didn't understand._

 _Her face was red where it wasn't bruising and her hands were white and shaking when she collapsed forwards. The man who owned the stand handed her a cup of water that she sucked down with desperation. Lee stumbled to sit beside her, thanking the man for his own cup and drank. He was so thankful that water existed._

 _The water was replaced soon after by food. Around him conversations went on, classes and games and plans to meet up that weekend and play a game Sakura had thought of._

 _Lee didn't think he knew anyone as creative as Sakura._

 _She was always coming up with new games, or long, detailed stories that she barely had to think about to conjure. Even the move she had used to best him today was something he had never witnessed before. It wasn't something they taught in the Academy and he was sure that she didn't have her own teacher yet._

" _D'you want to come, Lee?" Sakura asked, knocking him out of his thoughts. He really liked Sakura. He really, really liked her._

" _My team is training that day," he shook his head._

 _Ino snorted. "So bring them too. This is game you need lots of people for, right Forehead?"_

 _Sakura nodded absently, her green eyes fixed now on the Hyuuga girls. "Yeah, the more the merrier, ya know?"_

 _So Lee agreed._

Which was how he ended up here. Someone rustled the leaves on a tree to his right. He tried to move, to creep a little further out of the sight but with the support of his leg gone the bush shuffled when he was silent and bright blue eyes shot across the forest to pierce him to the tree.

His pulse picked up.

Stars sparked in Naruto's eyes when he threw his head back and screamed, 'Ghost in the Graveyard!' and vanished into the tree.

Lee was on his heels in a second. All around him he could hear the other go running, someone giggling madly as they made a mad dash for the flashlight Sakura pointed to the sky in the clearing they had gathered in before. The safe zone.

Lee dove and caught Naruto at the ribs, sending them both tumbling into a pile of leaves and mulch. Naruto squirmed and struggled until Lee finally released him and the two boys, now covered in skeletal leaves and soft soil, stood up. Naruto huffed at him and crossed his arms and the two made their way to the safe zone.

The others were huddled up around the flashlight, a mass of giggling children sitting around it. Even from here he could see the flush of exertion on Sakura's cheeks, the gleam of her white teeth in the meagre light.

"Naruto is the first one out!" Ino crowed, leaping to her feet. "You're dead!"

Naruto stuck his tongue at her petulantly.

"You're next," he threatened. Ino rolled her eyes at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yeah right. You couldn't catch me if your life depended on it."

"I will so!" he snapped.

"Before you do!" Sakura bounced in, waving the safe zone in the air, "I have snacks my mom packed."

What an amazing person, able to diffuse a situation of tension with such ease!

Lee could feel his heart beating hard as he and the other followed Sakura eagerly to where she had left her backpack behind. She always carried it with her, he noticed. And she always had something in it to share, snacks or lunches, or smoothies of… questionable combinations.

Everyone took a little snack pack, a rice ball and a few slices of apple. Even Neji, who hadn't been keen on coming until Gai-sensei had strong armed him in to joining his younger cousins and friends, took his portion.

Lee turned to thank Sakura when he noticed that she was looking elsewhere. Down the incline of the park, to where the sidewalk was lit by street lights. Someone was walking down, between the circles of illumination. Lee squinted at the person, and frowned when he stepped into the light.

Sasuke Uchiha was unmistakable, even at night.

Lee was expecting Sakura to yell at him, invite him up to play with them.

To his surprise she did no such thing, instead turning away to produce napkins and pass those out too. Mostly to Naruto.

"You don't want him to join?" Lee coudln't help asking.

Sakura looked at him, surprised. Then, she shrugged.

"He wouldn't say yes even if I offered, so why bother?" she reasoned. "Now! You and Naruto go hide, and we'll start counting again."

Lee nodded, eying his new partner speculatively. The whole time Naruto hadn't stopped staring holes into the side of Ino's head. He stepped away from her slowly. Everyone else covered their eyes and started counting to the sky.

Lee and Naruto vanished into the darkness to await their pursuers.


	8. Chapter 8

**Alien-Planet; my friend! my love! my long reviewer oh my god I love you hello! So! I can't reveal much because you were right about it being mega spoilers for the future and the weirdness I'm working into Sakura. I can tell you for sure she won't be doing any fuinnjutsu. As for a weapon, I haven't considered that angel actually. I don't know what I would give her! A war hammer maybe? Or a whip? Any ideas? As for romance, I don't have anything planned yet. Naruto and Lee have crushes on her for sure, but I haven't settled on anyone for her to like, end up with. The dream was supposed to be confusing, it'll all make sense in time! I'm not sure what'll happen with Sakura's poor parents, but I do feel bad for them. Very bad! I also... really like that fanboy and girl idea. A LOT.**

 **littleditto: Thank you! We'll see, huh?**

 **Sazaleli: but i caaaaaan't. I have to be consistent with my own plot and weakness. Goddamn it.**

 **Amulet Sugar: That scene was actually one I've had in my head for a long time, so it really means a lot to me that it was impactful for you. I wanted to try and show Sabella's character a little more and I hope that's what I've done. Isn't Lee fucking cute?! I love that boy!**

 **Angelsailor: That's actually a game I played with all the neighbor kids when it was too dark to play kick ball anymore!**

* * *

The first time that Sabella met Neji she was… less than impressed. He seemed like a douche canoe, which she told Lee straight to his face.

She was honestly surprised that, with all her trips to the Hyuuga estate over the past year or so, that she hadn't bumped into him at least once before. Then again, considering his current uncle issues, she wasn't _that_ surprised he would stay away as much as he could, and she had only really started to frequent the place after he'd graduated and had somewhere else he could reasonably be.

Their first meeting consisted of him showing up with Might Gai's arm locked around his upper arm to a game she had put together with her other friends and offered to let Lee invite his team too. They all showed up, though Gai disappeared to she-didn't-know-where, probably to play fight Kakashi or something.

Their first meeting was of him telling her games were a waste of time and their second meeting, not counting when he took a snack from her begrudgingly, was when she smashed him into a tree and told him bluntly that he was a ghost now.

Hinata, of all people, had won the game in the end.

When Sakura went to see Lee and his team a few weeks later, her wrists and ankles heavy from Lee's birthday present to her, they were in the middle of a spar. Lee and Neji were going at it in a vacious back and forth that actually made her wince in sympathy.

Sabella sat herself in the grass at Gai's feet, waiting patiently to pick Lee up and take him away.

Then, Neji's face snapped towards her. Lee's fist connected hard with his cheek, but he was away a second later, realizing that it had been a dirty strike. Sabella wasn't known for fighting fair, but Lee believed in it.

Neji picked himself up from the ground, glared at Lee, then levelled that same narrow eyed stare at Sabella. She sat straighter, lifting her chin in challenge as he stalked closer to where she sat. She didn't stand though. She didn't feel like it.

"Can I help you?" she leaned back on her hands to look up at him.

"What's wrong with you?" he demanded. The veins around his eyes were bulged grotesquely. Hinata's did the same thing when she used her Byakugan.

"Excuse me? Rude!" she glared right back at him.

"Why do you have that much chakra?" he switched questions to one that was, while more specific, no more polite. And, to one she wasn't going to answer.

"...Ha? I can't use chakra," she told him blandly. She picked herself up, slowly brushing grass from her skirt. "Lee must have told you."

"He did. But you're lying. You can use chakra. His chakra coils are twisted beyond use. Yours are swollen with excess energy. Energy that-" here, he swallowed, his face growing pale, "it burning you from the inside. Why?"

Sabella made to hum before it cut off and her eyes got wide. She was right! Her theory from the beginning of this whole misadventure was true! Haha!

"So that's why!" she leapt to her feet. "When I tried to use chakra before, my skin exploded!" she said, delighted by this new discovery. She clapped her hands together. "Whoo! I mean, that's kinda fucked up, but why needs chakra anyways, huh Lee?" she yelled over Neji's shoulder to her friend, who had gotten a haircut sometimes, and beamed at her.

"That isn't a good thing," Neji snapped at her. "If you don't do anything about it, it could tear your body apart."

Sabella's smile slid off of her, falling apart like wet bread. Her excitement vanished and her stomach plummeted. Tear her body apart? No. No, she was just starting here, she was just starting to live again. She couldn't-

She couldn't die.

"It'll be fine," Gai slapped her back, smiling down at her a few watts short of his normal one. Gentling it, for her. "You'll work something out, don't worry."

"I- yeah," she nodded, slowly, turning this information around in her head. She still had a couple of questions left though. "Yeah," she said again. She grabbed her bag off the ground and swung it around her shoulders. That feeling of her body itching, the sensation of not fitting in her skin just right was back. Only now she could feel something else.

Something hot and dangerous licking from inside her veins.

"I gotta go," she said abruptly. "I'll see y'all later!" she waved to Lee and ran off, a rabbit hearted girl running through the village until she was stumbling into Naruto's apartment, her gifted key shaking in her fingers.

Naruto, for all he was brash and loud and had no manners what so ever, had absolutely no qualms with hugging her when she threw herself into his arms without warning. An old fear clawed at her throat, trying to choke her.

She wasn't ready to die.

She had to find a way out of this.

* * *

Naruto did not like to sit still, this was a known fact. The boy had more energy than a power plant, literally and figuratively, and it manifested in constant fidgeting and running around.

Sabella had discovered very quickly that the best way to keep him still was, simply, to hug him.

It was cute, how quick he settled down as soon as she wrapped her arms around him and dragged him into her lap. She wouldn't be able to do it forever, once he actually hit his growth spurts. Girls got taller faster, but she knew that Sakura was going to be incredibly short later on.

But for now, he was content to sit there with her, chatting up a storm while Iruka read off their team assignments. He was noticeably more stiff today than he had been the day before.

Sabella didn't really understand what was happening, in the sense of none of it made sense.

The day before everyone else had taken the test, as they were meant to, and passed. Except for her. Because she was a 'special circumstance' she had been given a written and physical test, with no chakra involved. Lee had, thankfully, turned out to be a wonderful addition to the ranks and paved the way for her and other people who couldn't use chakra to have the opportunity to follow their dreams of being ninja.

Naruto had taken the same test as everyone other than her, and _passed_. Like a regular person.

"I don't know how you did it," she said, propping her chin on his shoulder, "But I'm glad you did."

Naruto smiled broadly at her. "I'm just that awesome."

"Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke!"

Sakura peered at him. "Sasuke wasn't talking to us." They had gotten into plenty of trouble over the last couple of years for chatting in class.

"No, I mean that's your team!" Iruka pinched the bridge of his nose. Sakura could imagine he was thankful to finally be getting rid of the pair of them.

"Oh," she said.

"No!" Naruto wailed. Sabella patted his head like he was a whining puppy.

"Oh hush. It won't be that bad. Maybe we can get him to play with us," she comforted.

"But he's so lame," Naruto slumped back against her.

Sasuke scoffed. "I'm not the one that failed every class we have."

Sabella looked at Ino, who was pouting deeply. "Please, send help."

"I'd trade you if I could! I'm stuck with these two lazy bums," she jerked her thumb towards Shikamaru and Choji, who didn't seem at all upset by this turn of events. Sabella didn't know why Ino was so surprised, the Ino-Shika-Cho was famous and well rehearsed, of course they would go for another generation.

"You'll be fine," Sabella reached over to pat her hand. "Just be nice, okay love?"

Ino huffed and nodded along. "Yeah, yeah. Good luck with them."

"We'll be fine too, just watch," Sabella tossed her a thumbs up, grinning at her.

Ino reached over suddenly, yanking Sakura into a hard hug that crushed most of the air out of her lungs. Startled, she was still happy to hug back.

"We won't see each other as much anymore," Ino said to her hair. "So- so make sure you come over for dinner on saturday, okay?"

 _Oh._ Ino didn't want them to drift apart.

Sabella hugged her back tight. "I will," she vowed. "Now go meet your teacher. Kakashi isn't here yet, I don't think."

Ino finally let her go and left, walking a few steps ahead of the boys. Hinata, who was sitting in front of her and Naruto next to Kiba and Akamaru, and interestingly enough Shino,turned around to smile and wave at Sakura before she and the other two departed.

Sabella had asked, the next time she saw Hinata, why she had never told her what was wrong with her chakra. Hinata had confessed that she thought Sakura had known. They should have checked it at the hospital.

So, why hadn't they?

Why hadn't anyone told her that her chakra could kill her?

"Hey, hey, Sakura?" Naruto poked her cheek. She turned and bit his finger. "Ow!"

"What's up?" she muffled a laugh at the look on his face.

"I'm bored," he said, slumping against her. Sasuke made a disgusted sound. Sakura ignored him to pet Naruto's fluffy hair. He was so cute.

Sasuke was cute too, in a sad orphan boy sort of way. Sabella wanted to wrap him up in a snuggie and sit him in front of a tv with some hot chocolate and tell him everything would be okay.

At the exact same time she wanted to smack him silly for being a dick.

She, too, had lost everything she had and she wasn't moping or telling other people they were worthless.

 _Different people grieve differently,_ she reminded herself.

"Sorry doll, I don't know what to tell you. I can tell you more about Bilbo Baggin's if you want?"

Naruto shook his head and hopped out of her lap to go put an eraser on top of the cracked door. Sabella watched him with unhidden amusement. She tapped her pencil lightly on the table and paused with an idea.

"So, Kakashi-sensei, are you just going to watch us the whole day?" she asked abruptly.

Naruto and Sasuke both stared at her like she was crazy. Sabella almost screamed when the air was displaced next to her shoulder. Naruto did it for her. As it was she managed to just tense her muscles and look up at him with wide eyes. There was a knife in her hand.

"You... move fast," she said at length.

Kakashi stared down at her. Slowly, she put the knife away and tried to calm her racing heart. Goddamn sonuvabitch!

"Whoa!" Naruto shouted, "How'd you know he was there?"

Sabella smiled sheepishly at Kakashi.

"I guessed?"

Kakashi, to his credit, didn't roll his eyes at their antics. He didn't look very impressed though. He had to know that Sabella was full of shit, he had only popped up to scare the shit out of them. She was sure of it. What an ass hole.

Sabella smiled brilliantly up at him. This was going to be fun.

"Alright," Kakashi leaned against the desk she was sitting on. Sabella leaned back against Naruto when he came to stand next to her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders obediently. He knew how she liked to cuddle.

"Let's get started. You," he pointed to Sabella. "Tell me your name, your dream, mah, Likes and dislikes."

Sabella startled. "Um. I'm Sakura. er, Haruno," she hoped that didn't sound like a lie. "I don't think I have a dream. I like playing with my friends, and I dislike sleeping in hammocks, and Neji Hyuuga."

Kakashi didn't say much to that. He moved onto the blond.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! The Next Hokage! I like Ramen, and hanging out with Sakura and Ghosts in the Graveyard, and I hate stuck up assholes!"

"You're a loud one," Kakashi observed. His dark eye went to Sasuke, "You next."

Sasuke, still at his desk, steepled his fingers. "I'm Sasuke Uchihga. I don't have likes or dislikes. My only dream is... to kill a certain man."

Sabella stared hard at him. Leaned closer.

"You're going to need so much help. Hey, you should be friends with me and Naruto."

Sasuke squinted at her. "Hell no."

"This will be fun," Kakashi declared.


	9. Chapter 9

Sabella drummed her heels on the edge of the mattress. She couldn't deny the anxiety that bubbled up under her heart as Hinata stared at her intently, her lavender eyes transfixed on something that Sabella herself could not see. She tried not to move around too much, but she was failing horribly.

With her nerves running high and her heart sinking and rising in turn she thought she might throw up.

"Well?" she asked at last, looking at the other girl. Hiashi, of all people, stood in the corner watching. Sabella could barely believe she had managed to spin this into a weird 'training opportunity' for Hinata, Hiashi and Hanabi, who was squinting at her with her own white eyes narrowed in tight concentration.

"What Neji said is right. Your chakra pathways… I didn't even know this was possible."

"They're so big," Hanabi leaned closer to her, childlike curiosity over taking her small features.

Sabella shifted uncomfortably. She wasn't sure how she felt about them looking at her like she was a particularly interesting thing to study.

"So, what do I do about it?" she asked, rubbing her arm. "I don't really want to die, thanks all the same."

"No, I would imagine not," Hiashi said, and if it were anyone else Sabella might have mistaken it for a joke. She looked up at him, his hard face all but impassive. Still, there was something in his pale eyes that made her feel a little more at ease. She felt like she should hate him but… she didn't. Even with the shit he pulled with Hinata and her kind heart.

"We will look into it," he went on, "There may be cases of such a thing happening in the past. Until then, you might discharge chakra, and ease the strain on your body. Performing small, simply jutsu should work."

Sabella felt bad shaking her head. "I can't. Whenever I try to use chakra, it rips my skin apart."

Hanabi jerked upright, startled.

"Or, the skin just falls off I guess," she clarified. "Either way, I don't think I can do that."

Hiashi looked down at her. "You'll have to work out a way to use some up, until we can find a better solution. On top of that… your chakra itself is unbalanced."

Sabella wasn't even remotely surprised by that. After all, she was a soul in the wrong body. It did bring up the question of where Sakura was. Had she been pushed out? Or squashed down? Had Sabella's survival promised Sakura's death? Or was she merely a part of her now? If so, why didn't she have memories?

Sabella decided she didn't want to think about that, and chose, instead, to sit up straight and nod abruptly.

"Okay," she said, "I'll figure it out."

She had no goddamn clue how, but she would. And, she now had Hiashi helping her, which was probably the most surprising thing that had happened since she had shown up in this crazy world. She had always thought he was a cold, callause man, but now she wasn't't so sure. He was a person, a poor father but a person still and people were flawed and, Sabella was blessed with the knowledge that he would turn into a more decent person soon enough. Neji too.

They were still dicks.

Very contrary to Hinata and Hanabi, who were truly adorable girls, innocent and pure.

Cinnamon rolls.

"Okay," Sabella stood and bowed to Hiashi politely. "Thanks for your help. I've got to get going now though. Kakashi has a test for us tomorrow, and I need to prepare myself."

"Yes, you do, if you're being tested by him," Hiashi agreed. Sabella took her leave, hugging Hinata and Hanabi on her way out, despite the disapproving grunt that Hiashi made behind her. People were weird. She didn't know that she totally understood humans.

Honestly, who designed them? Their backs were an architectural travesty, they could survive being impaled in the head but died being stuck by an insects butt spike. Nailed it or failed it, that was them. Sabella stared down at her hands, smooth skin that was steadily growing more calloused from work. Scars laced across her knuckles, shallow and sure to fade with age. The skin was still different around the wrists, a jagged line that reminded her of just how painful it was to try and perform any type of jutsu. The chakra had burst forth, destroying her skin entirely.

" _I'll figure it out. "_

That was starting to sound like a lie.

* * *

"Sooo," Sabella drawled, leaning against the tree. "What do you wanna do until he gets here?"

"Nothing," Sasuke said frankly.

"Let's play a game," Naruto plopped closer to her.

"Sure," Sabella smiled brightly at him. "First to five?" she offered, standing up and dancing around him.

"That's fine with me," he agreed, jumping up with her. Sasuke merely watched them out of the corner of his eye, pretending her was too good for them. Sabella didn't fight him. He wouldn't play with them anyhow, boring boy. He didn't want friends. He was going to get them, even if he didn't want the, but not just yet.

"So where were you wednesday?" she asked conversationally, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet. Ninja shoes were awesome, the most comfortable things she'd ever worn in her life.

Naruto threw the first strike, open palmed, at her face. Sabella side stepped quickly, staying light on her feet. He didn't quite look at her, which was strange. Naruto was always so happy to have attention paid to him.

Suspicious.

"Oh, you know," he said vaugely. He knocked a swipe Sabella took at him quickly and they moved against eachother, hand and hand, blow for blow, steadily picking up pace.

Naruto finally smacked her stomach, and Sabella took advantage of his lowered arm to box his ears.

"One one," she said lightly, eyeing him. Naruto also liked to overshare like no tomorrow. Vague wasn't his style. He was up to something on wednesday, she was sure of it. The question was, what was it?

Naruto used her distraction to bop her in the head. "One two!"

Sabella ducked under him, sudden and fast, and hit him once in the stomach and spun sideways to hit his side.

"Three two!"

Naruto swung around, huffing, and threw himself at her. Sabelle stepped to the side and smacked his shoulder.

"Four two!"

Naruto spun on his heel and attacked. Sabella barely blocked him, knocking his hands this way and that as Naruto took it up a notch. He moved faster, hitting harder, and Sabella had to push herself to keep up. Sakura was a natural fighter, and though she hadn't been focusing on her physical abilities until Sabella was hanging around, she was getting good fast. She had to, if she was going to keep up with Lee, the psycho. She was better than Naruto most days, but every now and again he could still surprise her.

In the end, Naruto won with a come back, five to three. They played their game twelve more times, with Naruto winning only two of them before Kakashi finally appeared alongside them in the tall grass of the training grounds. It ruffled lightly in the winds, beaten down in some places and growing strong in others.

"Good morning," Sabella sang cheerfully towards Kakashi. He lifted his hand at her.

"Yo."

"You're late!" Naruto howled, pointing an accusatory finger at him. There was a grass stain already on his pants, and his cheek was scratched but already healing. Sabella was jealous. She wanted a crazy awesome healing quirk and a cute fox!

Cute, but angry, which fit Sasuke to a T.

Sabella giggled at her own joke, ignoring the incredulous look that landed her from Sasuke.

"Are you insane?" he asked, prompting her to lift her shoulders.

"I dunno dude, probably. I'm trying to be a shinobi when I can't use chakra so… yeah, probably," she nodded to herself.

"If you're done chatting?" Kakashi asked dryly. Sabella mocked him a snappy salute.

"Sir yes sir!"

Kakashi heaved a sigh at her. "Anyways. The reason you're all here today," he reached into his pocket and produced two bells. Sabella listened with half and ear as he explained the test, the consiquences, and the chances of them passing. She didn't both pretending to be afraid. She knew how this would end. When Naruto tried to lung for him, Sabella caught him around the middle.

"He hasn't started yet. Hold up," she scolded lightly. Naruto pouted and leaned into her shoulder, but he held off on attacking. Kakashi eyed the pair of them. Sabella smiled sweetly at him. She turned her face and whispered quietly to Naruto her brief hummed but nodded in agreement.

"Start," Kakashi finally said. 'Sakura' reached out and caught Sasuke's hand before he could run. Naruto smacked a hand sign in front of him and the trio disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sabella stumbled a little when they landed, and did not let go of Sasuke when he tried to yank his arm away from her.

"Hey, what are you-!"

"Shush," Sabella hissed. "Listen. We're gonna have to work together for this."

Sasuke scoffed but lowered his voice. "You're an idiot. You heard him, only two people will pass."

"Yeah, two out of three are good odds. And besides, he's two ranks above us, if not more. That means there needs to be at least three of us to try and beat him, or even touch the bells. If we get them we can figure out who keeps them later. But if we don't work together, no one gets jack shit," she said quickly, keeping her voice low. She was still pretty sure Kakashi could hear them, but it was good enough. And the whole issue of passing was in now turning on one another. Not that the boys needed to know that.

"I agree with Sakura," Naruto announced.

Sasuke scoffed and yanked his hand away from her. "I don't need help from the two of you," he snapped.

Sabella sighed in despair and shrugged at last.

"Whatever you say dude. We'll see you after you get your ass kicked."

Sasuke scowled at her and Sabella mocked his with a different sort of salute than she'd given Kakashi. Naruto snickered at her and the pair huddled together, planning quietly. Sabella was by far the best at taijutsu, Sasuke was the best at ninjutsu. Naruto still struggled with most things,but he was considerably better than he had been in the original show. Hinata had helped him, and so had Ino, and he'd been disappearing off to who knew where a couple times a week. He could do all the academy basics, transformations, substitution and clones too. Not shadow clones, just illusions, but still.

It would be useful. He could make a whole lot of them. That was where most of his plan lay. Naruto was the brains behind the operation, coming up with a plan on the fly. He was clever, his trickster nature shining through when she prodded it.

They crept in the shadows, waiting while they were pressed up against each other, watching Kakashi engage Sasuke. The pair of them bided their time, until Sasuke shot out a massive fireball at a startled Kakashi.

"Now," he hissed. Sabella tensed, lifting her hands into fists.

Naruto threw his hands together into the hand signs. An army of clones erupted around them, spreading across the grass. Sabella stared at him in shock, her mouth partially open.

Naruto scratched the back of his neck. "It's easier to make a bunch of them," he admitted sheepishly.

"You're so weird, doll," she accused, not even bothering to hide the fondness in her. Naruto turned pink and laughed awkwardly. Sabella left him there, rushing forwards with his clones. They weren't shadow clones, just illusions. He'd never learned shadow clones, he had no idea _what_ he was.

That was probably a bad thing.

Sabella jumped to punch Kakashi in the face.

He caught her wrist and tossed her easily over his shoulder but she was no so easily deterred. She landed on her feet and went back at him, kicks, punches, all of which he blocked with a frustrating amount of ease. Sabella didn't let up, trying to search for an opening.

There were… a lot of them. A lot of them and each one was a trap for her. Sasuke, at some point, gave up going solo and joined her and the whole while Naruto kept sending his illusionary clones at him. Sabella made eye contact with Sasuke and mimed blowing through her fingers behind Kakashi's back.

He cottoned on to their plan quickly and spat out another massive fireball. Kakashi moved to the right, Sabella went left, and an army of Naruto's attacked. None of them made real contact.

A puff of smoke and the real Naruto hit Kakashi in the side before he was chucked to the side. A pair of silver bells glinted in the air. Kakashi caught them before Sabella could swoop in and steal them from the air and jumped back a few steps.

"Close, but not close enough," he said cheerfully. His dark eyes shone with a sort of amusement and Sabella tried to remember if anyone else had worked together or gotten so close. She didn't think so.

Sabella went in after him, unrelenting, in the hopes that he didn't notice what they'd done. Sasuke, who didn't know the plan at all, went with her, aiming for the bells once more tied to Kakashi's hip.

Finally Sabella broke off, grabbing Sasuke and sprinting away. She lead him on a squick chase through the forest, doing her best to lose Kakashi. She was very sure that she didn't succeed, and he was only letting her run off because he was being kind.

The trio huddled under a tree, Sasuke forcefully stuffed between the pair of them.

"Did you get them?" Sabella asked, her eyes alight. Sasuke looked between the pair of them, his mouth opening in a question.

Naruto beat him to it by holding up his hand, opening his fingers and revealing a pair of small silver bells. Sasuke's mouth fell open.

"When did you get those?!"

"When you and I were distracting him, Naruto transformed two rocks into bells. He swapped himself out for the real ones, left Kakashi with the fakes and ran off to get the real ones while we played red herring."

"You thought of that?" Sasuke looked at her, a hint of admiration to his voice.

"Me? Hell no. Naruto thought it up," she pointed to the boy, who laughed sheepishly. That threw Sasuke. She could see him tense and sit straighter, looking at Naruto in a strange new light.

"So, we have the bells," Sasuke said finally. "Why get's to keep them?"

"Sasuke can have one," Sabella said swiftly. "And Naruto the other."

"What? But then you won't get one!" Naruto argued. "You take one!" He shoved it into her hands.

"If you give me on and you keep one I'll just give it to Sasuke," she said firmly. She shoved the bell at Sasuke before crossing her arms stubbornly.

"Then you give that one to Sasuke and I'll give you mine!" he threw the other bell at her.

"I'll just give it back to you." She pushed it back.

"I won't take it, you said you'd keep trying to be a shinobi, you promised!" Naruto insisted, shoving it into her hands. His jaw was set and his bright eyes were narrowed.

"Yeah but it's your dream, so you keep that bell and Sasuke keeps mine." She pushed it back into his hands.

"I'm not taking it!" Naruto foced it back in her fingers. "I'll get my dream any way!"

"Just take the bell!" Sasuke finally punched Naruto in the side, dropping the bell into his lap.

They both stared at him. Sasuke didn't say anything more, looked stubbornly off to the side with the smallest color on his cheeks.

Sabella wordlessly handed the bell in her hand out towards him. Naruto squawked and tried to force his bell on her until they dissolve into a wrestling match on the ground, kicking up dust and absolutely giving their position away.

Someone much taller than the three of them cleared their throat above them and the trio froze. Sabella was pulling Sasuke's hair, Naruto had his foot in her chin, Sasuke was wrenching Naruto's arm around him. Kakashi looked down upon them, a strange look in his eyes, a furrow to his brows.

"Um," Sabella said eloquently.

Kakashi looked from one of them to the other. Finally, his single visible eye crinkled with a strange sort of mirth and pride.

"Congratulations," he said. "You all pass."


End file.
